Quicksilver

Alchemist Enoch Root arrives in 1713 Boston to collect Isaac Newton's friend Daniel Waterhouse and take him back to Europe, where he is needed to mediate the fight for precedence between Newton and scientist and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, both of whom independently invented the calculus. Meanwhile, vagabond Jack Shaftoe journeys across Europe where he meets Eliza, a young English woman who has escaped from a Turkish harem.

This one took a while to grind through, but i'm a history buff. Certainly, that colors my review.
Still. Highly entertaining stuff.

GeoffAbel
Sep 08, 2013

Normal humans are not capable of writing this great. Stephenson never fails to make my brain hurt (so good). Sure he overwrites (900 pages in book 1 alone - and it took me soooo long to read) but everything is pure gold. This may not be the best book of the author's to cut your teeth on (maybe read Anathem first to get his unique style) but this story has everything possible in it from calculus to ribald adventure. MUST READ!